so 



The Neilgherry Mountains. 



[No. 34, 



Second to this is the abundance of labour which can always be com- 

 manded here, the neighbouring provinces of Malabar, Mysore, and 

 Coimbatore supplying coolies in sufficient numbers to meet all de- 

 mands, and at all seasons of the year ; while in Ceylon the utmost 

 difficulty is experienced in most parts to obtain labourers when ur- 

 gently required ; and at all times the supply of coolies is extremely 

 precarious. Planters here have also the advantage of a good public 

 road passing through the heart of the forest land of the " Koondahs," 

 and affording ready means for obtaining supplies, machinery, &:c., or 

 of sending away produce for shipment by a route, of which less than 

 30 miles are by land and 36 by water, to the port of Calicut. One es- 

 tate which was opened about 2 years ago near Wallahkadoo," 

 half way down the Koondah ghaut, by the late Archdeacon of Ce}^- 

 lon and Mr. Hutson, also of that island, and which I had an opportu- 

 nity of inspecting recently, on my way up from the western coast, is 

 in a very flourishing condition, and has every promise of turning out 

 most successfully. In its neighbourhood are tracts of virgin forest 

 land of immense extent, stretching away over the innumerable spurs 

 and vallies into which the Koondahs are broken 



Western slopes of the 

 Koondahs well suit- 

 ed lor colfeecultiva- 



Koondahs well suit- ^liey slope downwards towards the Ponany 



tion. river, all eminently suitable for coffee plant- 



ing, having the proper elevation, a good and rich soil, and enjoying 

 a climate particularly favorable to the nourishment of this peculiar 

 shrub. If the success w^hich is looked for crowns the exertions and 

 adventure of the first speculators, there can be little doubt that when 

 the Koondah coffee appears regularly in the market as a production 

 of this district, the attention of capitalists at home will be directed 

 to it, and the western portion of this mountain tract become a source 

 of great increase to the revenue of the country, while it will afford 

 employment and subsistence to the many indigent people in the 

 neighbouring provinces, who, at the present time, suffer such privations 

 from the want of it, between the seasons of sowing and reaping the 

 crops in the plains, and indeed for more than three quarters of the 

 year. 



The other, or what may be called the old plantations in the other 

 parts of the Hills, but principally on the north-eastern slopes, are 

 insignificant in point of size, but remarkable for the peculiarly fine 

 flavour of the coffee produced, which is consi- 



Plantations at Coonoor i , . i i • - i • i 



and Kotergherry too dered to be owmg to the high elevation at which 

 ' most of them are situated. Some plantaiions 



